to be swift, heavy and dangerous. >> stay off the streets of our city. basically, stay home. >> reporter: the storm already struck the midwest, blanketing chicago with snow and leaving cars in ditches in wisconsin. along the densely i-95 corridor from new york, boston and beyond, preparations are under way. crews across the region loaded up salt trucks and are ready to hit the road. >> it will probably be a long four days, which is tough on anybody. >> reporter: no doubt, there is a lot of work ahead. new york has 6,300 miles of streets to plow. >> we have more than 250,000 tons of salt on-hand. >> reporter: in new jersey, residents brace for the storm, even though they haven't recovered from the devastation left behind by superstorm sandy. >> trying to batten down the hatches here, if any storms are coming. the last one ruined us totally. >> reporter: new england residents rushed out to stock up on essentials. >> this is panic shopping. so, bread, milk, a snow shovel in case our snow shovel breaks. >> reporter: the fire department was even called into a supermarket in salem, massachuset